Happy Birthday, Kalen!
When Kalen realized that his birthday dinner party was approaching quickly, he began making plans. “We have to make decorations! Can I have a banner, Mom?”
A banner? Sure. I’ve been wanting to make a pennant banner for a while anyway…and wouldn’t it be neat if it were a permanent one that we could hang up every time one of us had a birthday?
Of course, it had to be made out of materials on hand, but hello, we’re living with my mother! Being a lifelong artist and craftsperson, she’s always a good great phenomenal resource for this kind of project.
She and I are also a great brainstorming team, and she manages to turn my ideas into great end products. Some felt, paint, and ribbon (plus a few days of work) later, and voila!
Behold our two-sided Family Birthday Banner, courtesy of Grandma Wanda!
The letters are done in Aunt Bertha, which I think is such a fun font for a celebratory banner. Thank you, Mommy.
I took my Errand Helper (aka Nicky) along with me to knock out some to-do’s today. Library, vitamin store, etc. Most importantly (and most enjoyably, thus saved for last) was a trip to Barnes & Noble and Toys R Us, so he could pick out birthday presents for his brother. As we left the house, I said to Nicky, “It’s Monday. Help me look for benches!”
So he did.
He loved that I was being sneaky, taking a photo in the book store…but not enough to climb up on the little bench with me. He thinks it’s silly, but I guess it’s a good, “Mom” kind of silly. I’ll take that.
After a week away from my computer, what do you suppose the first thing I did was when we got back to Mom & Dad’s house?
Okay, the first thing was to sit and chat with Mom and the boys for a while. (Dad’s in Anaheim for the Barbershop Harmony Society Convention – his chorus took 12th place!)
What do you suppose the second thing I did was??
Oh, well…that’s right, the second thing was to carry my luggage upstairs and sort of get a start on unpacking it.
But the third thing – the third thing I did was to boot up Photoshop! Yep! Had to get a layout done for last week’s PencilLines sketch before today…
I’m sure most parents forget just how little their kids once were. (At least, I hope most parents do…if they don’t, I really suck.) Doing all these layouts from 2005 is really tugging my heart strings. Kalen’s not even two years old yet in these photos, and Nicky’s less than a week out from his fifth birthday. I don’t often get sentimental about the boys growing up, but sometimes the realization of how much they’ve grown in such a seemingly short amount of time hits me all of a sudden. I won’t even begin to think about what the next few years are going to bring!
The boys and I are home after our lovely staycation at our best friends’ house. They hit the beach, and we spent the week puppy-sitting and making use of their extended satellite TV, cozy reading chairs, and neighborhood pool. It was a good deal all-around.
Of course, Monday meant that I could take advantage of a new-to-me bench…
Tuesday, the boys each had a swimming lesson with the neighborhood’s swim team coach. This young woman has such a way with kids! I hadn’t been able to get Kalen to do anything resembling a stroke before this day, and look at him swimming right to her!
Nicky also made great progress in the pool, and he got the hang of side breathing. He can now make it all the way across the short width of the pool without putting his feet down. This kid has come a long, long way in just over a year. I’m in such awe of him.
I also spent an awful lot of time reading (Lynn Kurland – one of my favorites!), and I got a start on that baby gift I mentioned before. No details until after the shower, but a little sneak peek can’t hurt, can it?
We really enjoyed our little faux vacay, and it was made even better by the knowledge that Jason will be coming to see us next week. He flies in Tuesday night to spend a week and celebrate Kalen’s birthday. We’re all so excited.
Tomorrow, the boys and I are heading out to house- and dog-sit for a week, so I’ll be on a scrapbooking hiatus. No worries, I have crocheting to do! There’s a certain baby gift I need to get moving on…
Since I knew I’d be going through Photoshop withdrawal next week, I knocked out a couple of pages today. First was today’s challenge at JessicaSprague.com – to scrap a screenshot. I adored Jessica’s sample, with a Google Map of her house, so I ripped it right off.
We bought our first house in 1999, so all of the photos are in printed snapshot form. Of course, this means they’re also packed away. Once we get to Seattle (and I find them, and I find time to scan them in), I’ll finish this layout right up.
The second layout, since it’s Friday, was for a DigiDare. This week’s Dare is to scrap a chaotic situation. With two young boys, it just fell to me to choose which situation. (You know I have a few to choose from.) How about a two-year-old eating? That should fit the bill.
The tricky part of this one was to scrap it in a chaotic style without losing focus on the photographs. I’m pretty happy with it. (And, BTW, how freaking cute is that spaghetti-covered boy?)
(And it makes a great background color!)
First things first. What did I find in my inbox yesterday morning, but a request to use this layout of the boys with my dad on the Creating Keepsakes blog! Of course, I gave my ecstatic permission, so here it is. I even get a prize – how nifty is that?
Now, over at JessicaSprague.com, it’s birthday week! A freebie every day, a free photoshop class in July (you have to sign up this week!), and challenges every day. Well, you know how I love challenges to get the creative juices flowing, right?
Yesterday, we were to use one of the suggested movie posters as inspiration for a layout. I was so inspired by the poster for A Mighty Heart that I pretty much lifted it straight off the page to scrap the pictures from the first Preeclampsia Foundation Walk-A-Thon I hosted.
I love this format for displaying lots of photos. Today’s challenge was to do a layout completely in neutrals, with just one added color. I decided to use this picture of Kalen to document the boy’s freaking hilarious giggles.
(Credits, as usual, behind the cut)
As I approached my 30th birthday a few years back, I began to get really excited. It wasn’t just for the party…
…but more for the number itself. I was so excited to leave my 20’s behind! Most of my friends dreaded passing into a new decade, but not I.
It’s not that my twenties were bad. On the contrary, I had a wonderful time in college, met the man of my dreams, had a great marriage and two healthy children. What I would not miss about those years, however, was the attitude from some people who had long ago left that age behind. I cannot tell you the number of times I heard a variation of the phrase, “Oh, well, you’ll understand when you’re older.” By the time I’d reached 28, I was well sick of it. I suppose the fact that I look younger than my age doesn’t help, but I was convinced that I would stop receiving those patronizing comments once I was in my thirties.
And I did. Who knows why – perhaps it was my own attitude that staved them off. Regardless, I find myself happily ensconced in the middle of a decade that sees me neither a young, inexperienced girl, nor yet middle-aged. I am looking forward to my forties just as happily (although not at all wishing the intervening years away), because I see that there is nothing as ineffectual in life as wishing you were in the past, or younger than you are. I cannot wait to see what the years ahead bring.
When Nicky professed an interest in science last month, my mom had a great idea. She combed the internet for at-home, kid-friendly science experiments and compiled them in a binder. Last week, we experimented with various salts and sodas as mummification agents. (On apples. We draw the line at mummifying anything from the animal kingdom.)
Today, the boys chose to make ice cream in plastic bags. Fun, right?
And it was fun…for the first two minutes, which is about how long it took to put the ingredients in the bags and zip them up. Then the shaking began.
(We wrapped the bags in dishtowels to protect the boys’ hands from the ice.) Unfortunately, to make ice cream takes a solid 10-15 minutes of vigorous shaking. They didn’t last 30 seconds before they lost their smiles.
About 12 minutes later (12 loooooooong minutes later!), we didn’t have ice cream, but we did have milkshakes! Both boys declared this success enough. After all, ice cream drunk through a straw still tastes like ice cream!
Ah-ha! The smiles have returned!
And, since this was a science experiment, of course we all learned a few things.
The boys learned why salt makes ice melt and why that energy cools the ingredients to make ice cream. They were reminded that NaCl is the chemical symbol for table salt.
I learned not to try this experiment again until I know they’re old enough to handle shaking a plastic bag for ten minutes without extended whining and moaning. In fact, I’m sorely tempted to invest in an ice cream ball. I also learned to check my stock of half-and-half before doing this again, so I have enough to make some for myself!
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